Communication demands, and particularly wireless communication demands, continue to increase. Next generation wireless communication systems, commonly referred to as “5G communication systems” are being developed, to meet these demands. One important technology to be adopted by 5G communication systems involves the use of base stations which have a large number of input and outputs (sometimes referred to as a massive multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) wireless communication system) to serve a large number of communication users. Massive MIMO uses a large number of antennas or antenna elements and time division duplex operation to serve multiple active user terminals at the same time. Extra antennas focus energy into ever-smaller regions of space to bring huge improvements in throughput and radiated energy efficiency. Massive MIMO wireless communication systems may have hundreds of transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) channels and corresponding radio frequency (RF) antennas.
In general, massive MIMO wireless communication systems and terminals, like other electronics, require testing and, in some cases, calibration. However, testing and calibration can present challenges in the case of a multi-user massive MIMO wireless communication system or terminal which includes a large number of input and outputs and antennas.
For example, an over-the-air (OTA) test is important and necessary to evaluate RF performance and antenna performance. In traditional OTA test solutions, testing or measuring different OTA measurement metrics require different OTA test systems with different radiation fields, including reactive near field, radiative near field, and far field. In general, any single existing OTA test method and system by itself cannot address all the requirements for obtaining the various kinds of OTA measurement metrics which are typically required for a massive MIMO wireless system. On the other hand, using multiple different OTA test systems will increase the cost of the testing. Also, in many OTA test scenarios, such as OTA testing in manufacturing, the OTA test approach needs to be fast (due to the large number of DUTs to be tested) and cost effective, and traditional OTA test approaches are not suitable due to either the test speed being inadequate or the cost being too great.
So, better solutions for testing multi-user massive MIMO wireless communication system or terminal performance are needed, particularly for performing OTA tests of MIMO systems in the manufacturing setting.
Thus it would be desirable to provide an improved method and system to test and calibrate the performance of a multi-input/multi-output communication system or device. In particular, it would be desirable to provide an improved system and method for performing OTA tests for multi-user massive MIMO wireless communication systems and terminals in a manufacturing setting.